The work of Jenny Wormald is extremely important in the world of medieval and early modern Scottish history. Her output has been substantial: publications include three books authored, five books edited or co-edited, forty-two articles or book chapters, and more than twenty shorter works. Moreover, it is not just the volume of the work that impresses, but its nature. Wormald launched a fearless attack on what she regarded as long-standing misconceptions about the Scottish kingdom, replacing notions of weak kings, rambunctious nobles, and long-lasting instability with reminders about effective monarchs and crown-noble cooperation, as well as warnings about viewing Scottish politics through an English prism and neglecting European perspectives; she also rethought Scottish periodization.

The fifteen chapters of this book, based in the main on the conference papers marking her seventieth birthday in 2012, essentially engage with and expand upon her work. The authors are largely her former students, colleagues, and friends; that said, this is not an exercise in hagiography. Thus Keith Brown's first chapter is an essential complement to the editors' introduction, directing the reader to the intellectual framework of her work, explaining some of the criticisms of it by later authors but acknowledging how well Wormald reset the agenda for the study of medieval and early modern Scottish history.

The remaining fourteen chapters are organized roughly chronologically and into two sections, each focused on Wormald's particular interests, “lords and men” and “kings and lords.” Steve Boardman seeks to fill a perceived gap in the Wormald agenda, arguing that, although she brilliantly discussed the significance of patrilineal descent in establishing kinship obligations, she was too dismissive of connections formed through marriage and of matrilineal bonds. There follows an intriguing study of the colorful career of Margaret Stewart, countess of Angus and Mar, whose ambitions were in some ways best realized by reliance on her maternal kin and on the affinity of her Douglas lover but who, nonetheless, was increasingly sidelined insofar as the lands of Mar were concerned and her rights as dowager Countess.

Christine Carpenter's chapter on bastard feudalism in fourteenth century England makes no reference to Scotland; however, her statement that the public power of the crown rested on the private power and relationships of nobles and gentry resembles Wormald's analysis of the relationship between Scottish kings, lords, and men. It also contributes to the English debate on bastard feudalism and its dating. The title of Hector McQueen's chapter, “Tame Magnates? The Justiciars of later Medieval Scotland,” alludes to Wormald's article “Taming the Magnates.” McQueen provides a painstaking study of the identities and responsibilities of these important officials (always major nobles and sometimes of royal blood), lending weight to the Wormald emphasis on cooperation, rather than conflict, with the crown.

John Watts's study of the poet John Skelton might seem far removed from the world of Wormald. However, Watts points out the parallels between Renaissance England and Renaissance Scotland and provides a useful analysis of Skelton's life and poetry. The highlight of the piece, however, is a poem purporting to be by Skelton but clearly written by Watts about Wormald, complete with footnote references to Adolf Falschlehrer and Alexander Salmond!

Feuds form the material for A. Mark Godfrey's chapter. Although he appreciates Wormald's explanation of the role of feud in late medieval Scotland, he rejects the idea that it was the governing concept for analysis of disputes and suggests that we should instead see it as simply a means to create pressure for a settlement. In other words, private and public justice would both be needed and no settlement would mean a continuance of disorder. Alexander Grant addresses the same topic, again reflecting on Wormald's influential article “Bloodfeud, Kindred and Government in Early Modern Scotland” (1980). This chapter is particularly useful in its definition of many aspects of feud, and it ranges far beyond Scotland. Grant neatly concludes that, in the end, the king's justice cannot be distinguished from the kin's justice since the king was overall head of the entire Scottish kindred.

Anna Groundwater takes us to the reign of James VI and shows us how he attempted to suppress blood feud and the pursuit of private justice in favor of settlement of disputes in the courts. Yet, as she demonstrates in her case study of Liddesdale, private bonds, although increasingly registered by the Privy Council, still played a vital role in the process.

Three other chapters in the collection also deal in greater depth with bonds, two with individual political bonds and the third with religious bonds. Michael Brown analyses an essentially private bond of 1453 whereby James, ninth earl of Douglas, promised his manrent and service to James II. Brown argues, contrary to other historians, that the bond was a success and aided the King in his dealing with the Douglases, which of course involved their destruction. Julian Goodare's discussion of the Ainslie Bond is in many ways a brilliant attempt at the reconstruction of a document whose date, venue, and signatories are all uncertain. Goodare argues that the downfall of Mary, Queen of Scots, needs to be explained “as if” the bond was really signed and “as if” those who signed it meant to approve the contents. And this he does, although many of the suggestions are unprovable.

It is religious bonds that interest Jane Dawson. Starting with Wormald's list, she charts how a new type of bonding developed that strengthened religious allegiance and identity and formed the basis of the covenanting tradition during the Scottish Reformation. Roger Mason's chapter focuses on traditions of political discourse. Although he summarily dismisses Whiggish interpretations of the Declaration of Arbroath as the origin of Scottish contractual theories of monarchy he does wish to show that broadly constitutionalist traditions of political discourse existed. A careful consideration of ecclesiastical conciliarism follows, and he also identifies a “baronial conciliarism” involving king, lords, and men.

In her engaging chapter, Felicity Heal uses royal gift exchanges to expand our understanding of Anglo-Scottish politics in the sixteenth century. As she notes, the value of gifts reflected both the status of giver and recipient and the exigencies of current politics. The two remaining chapters are somewhat peripheral to the main themes of the book. Alasdair MacDonald's concern is to rescue James III from the wretched reputation that he long possessed; he concludes that James's interest in culture, religion, and literature outweighs his deficiencies. Finally, Jamie Reid-Baxter provides a study of Thomas Murray, tutor to Prince Charles and one of the Scots who went south with James in 1603. He uses the Latin poems of Murray to emphasize James as “armoured,” “British,” and a Protestant crusader.

This volume has both the weaknesses and strengths of any Festschrift. The quality of the contributions varies, and there is some (probably inevitable) overlap in material. The honoree is deservedly praised, but there are also useful suggestions for expanding or modifying her views. The book is well produced by Edinburgh University Press, and the editors in their introduction have done a splendid job of summarizing its content.